Due to scares of the coronavirus epidemic, the Champions League last-16 tie between Chelsea and Bayern Munich will be played behind closed doors.
The first leg has already been played, in front of an excited Stamford Bridge crowd. Bayern Munich ran away with a 3-0 win away from home, and return to Germany with a great advantage going into the home tie.
Chelsea v Bayern Munich to be Played Behind Closed Doors
Refunds to Be Issued as Soon as Possible
A statement released by Bayern on Twitter read: “Our Champions League game against Chelsea will take place behind closed doors. All ticket holders will be given a full refund.”
Another statement, this time by Chelsea, states that refunds will be issued to their fans, too.
Coronavirus Outbreak Affecting Many Competitions
Many domestic leagues across Europe have enacted a similar precaution over the past month. La Liga and Ligue 1 will be playing in empty stadiums for the time being. The Spanish league will be secured until March 22. France’s top two leagues will be playing matches without fans until April 15.
The Italian Serie A has been well underway with empty stadium matches.
Juventus v Inter Milan was one of the biggest games of the season and had to be played behind closed doors. This was due to Italy’s COVID-19 epidemic. Many other games during that game week were played behind closed doors as well.
Now, with Chelsea v Bayern being closed off, that means that yet another competition is securing itself from fans due to the outbreak. The Europa League tie between Manchester United and LASK is also to be played in front of an empty crowd.
With the spread of the coronavirus, football fans might just have to watch from their television sets for a long while, potentially even for Euro 2020.
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